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Norvergence: The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a world hunger crisis of memorable extents. Regardless of advances in agribusiness and worldwide food surpluses, an extra 132 million people will go hungry than recently anticipated for the current year. As indicated by certain projections, before the year’s end, more individuals will bite the dust each day from starvation achieved by the pandemic than from the disease itself.
Norvergence: Because of the pandemic, enormous measures of food are being annihilated due to the breakdown in worldwide food flexibly chains while labourers and workers have less cash to buy food with because of the worldwide financial breakdown.
Even though the pandemic has seriously exacerbated the emergency, it ought to be noticed that worldwide appetite was at that point ascending a long time before it struck. Presently, every locale of the world is encountering mass craving, including nations that were believed to be generally secure, for example, in Europe and the United States.


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New York -- Barneys New York and The Walt Disney Company are teaming up on Barneys’ 2012 holiday campaign at Barneys stores in a campaign called Electric Holiday.
The multi-platform initiative will combine fashion and fantasy, merging the creativity and magic of Disney with the wit and surprise of the legendary Barneys New York annual holiday campaign.
“The legendary characters and world created by Disney live in the active mind and memory of virtually every citizen of the world," said Mark Lee, Barneys New York CEO. "Barneys New York has been privileged to collaborate with Disney and its remarkable talents this holiday season on the Electric Holiday campaign, which places these iconic characters into the center of our fashion world."
Beginning in mid-November, the the store windows at Barneys flagship on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue will serve as the centerpiece of the Electric Holiday campaign in which an exclusive moving art short created by Disney artists, will be showcased amid a celebration of lights. The moving art will feature models inspired by Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse, as well as other iconic Disney characters as they star in a fantasy Paris runway show.
Disney also has created a modern, three-dimensional electric light show that will encompass the Madison Avenue store entrance and showcase the moving art housed within the windows. Original music will bring the show to life.
The Electric Holiday program and the Madison Avenue flagship's windows will be unveiled on Nov. 14.

domain: news


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SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — A local business teamed up with global waste management company TerraCycle to help tackle the problem of plastic pollution in the beauty industry.
About 8 million tons of plastics enter oceans and marine environments annually — which, according to TerraCycle, is the same as dumping a garbage truck full of plastics into the ocean every minute of every day for a year.
In the beauty industry specifically, around 120 billion units of packaging are made each year, according to TerraCycle.
Plastic pollution has also been shown to have an impact on climate change, due to its contribution to global greenhouse gases.
Across the United States, small businesses are stepping up to combat the issue by better handling their waste.
Salacia Salts, a skin care and home fragrance shop in Savannah, is one of those small businesses.
They initially reached out to TerraCycle after discovering a lack of options in Savannah for recycling beauty products, especially the plastic kind, via curbside recycling or a municipal recycling program.
“I learned about TerraCycle when I was looking at different solutions on how to recycle different types of plastic packaging that was no longer recyclable in Savannah, and I found them as a major organization across the globe that was recycling really hard and difficult things, like cosmetic packages and compacts,” Salacia Salts founder Cari Phelps told WSAV.com Now.
TerraCycle offers several different types of Zero Waste Boxes to help with recycling difficult items, Phelps added.
The box Salacia Salts selected to add to their own store was geared the proper disposal of beauty product packaging.
Items like shampoo bottles, lip balm tubes, concealer sticks and eye shadow cases can be dropped inside.
“If you think about a cosmetic compact, there’s plastic, there’s glass, there’s metal, there’s tin, there’s all these different components, and it’s really hard to recycle in a local facility,” Phelps said.
“This box allows people to drop in a variety of different types of waste, and then they recycle it and turn it into really cool things, like toys or playground equipment,” she added.
“This phenomenon takes place whenever a well-meaning consumer tosses an item that they are unsure can be recycled—like an empty mascara container—into their curbside recycling bin in the hopes that it will be processed like any typical recyclable,” TerraCycle publicist Shaye DiPasquale told WSAV.com Now.
“In reality, this habit can be extremely counter-intuitive, since it places unnecessary stress on local municipal recycling facilities (MRFs),” DiPasquale said.
TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Box program offers people an eco-friendly way to discard their beauty waste.
Phelps says they first received their box over the holidays, and so far, they’ve gotten a positive response from customers who have already started to bring in their old beauty products.
“A lot of people say they want to come in because they’ve got things to drop off,” Phelps said.
“And that’s part of it, too, just educating people that there is a place,” she said.
Once the box is filled, Salacia Salts then ships it back to TerraCycle with a prepaid shipping label, and from there, the beauty waste gets properly handled.
With millions of pounds of plastic reportedly going into the oceans every day, Phelps says everyone can make a difference if they reduce, reuse or recycle.
“I think it’s something important for our community,” she said.
“We live on the coast, we love our beautiful marshes and beaches and waterways, and I think if you feel like you can do something really small, even if it’s recycling something once a week or once a month, you feel like you’re doing something for your own community,” she said.


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For innovative companies in the market, keeping an eye on trends and consumer needs is key to remaining a segment leader. In this vein, Schuman Cheese has released a new report that analyzes consumer trends to mark where the cheese industry can seize new opportunities.
"Understanding the evolving consumer palette is essential whether we're partnering with customers to create solutions that spur their success or inspiring our own product development initiatives," said Melyssa Jolivert, Senior Associate, Corporate Communications.
Identified by its experts in the Schuman Cheese Innovation & Strategy department, the company named six trends in its report, marking both what “consumers want” out of these trends alongside “predictions” for how they will grow and influence the industry.
The six key trends are as follows:
From the growth of globally demanded cheeses to insights behind tapping in on millennial sales, the report serves to give an in-touch view of the consumers behind the purchases in the cheese market. The company also noted that identifying trends like these have led to the established success of some of its popular products, like Cello and Yellow Door Creamery.
“For a company that prides itself on crafting inspired new cheese products, keeping a pulse on emerging industry trends is essential,” the company said in the report. “Understanding consumer motivations and desires is also how Schuman Cheese keeps reinventing established brands like Cello to stay fresh and relevant in an increasingly competitive domestic market.”
Schuman Cheese’s experts cultivated this list of trends from a body of primary and secondary research and statistical data to illuminate what these trends mean for the industry.
To get a glimpse at this wealth of information yourself, download the report here.


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Muscat, July 09: Recording commendable progress in the past year and staying committed to its growth trajectory, Sohar International has been awarded the ‘Fastest Growing Retail Banking Bank Oman 2023’ Award from the World Business Outlook Awards for its strong financial figures, exceptional performance, expanding customer base, innovative products and services, advanced digitalization strategies, and unwavering commitment to customer-centricity.
Commenting on receiving the award, Mr. Khalil Salim Al Hedaifi, Chief Retail Banking Officer at Sohar International, said, “In a dynamically evolving market, customer trust and loyalty become unique competitive advantages – ones that Sohar International has been able to leverage. This award is a testament to the same. While focusing on attaining sustainable growth for our retail segment, we continue to adopt a customer-centric approach, enhance the digital experience for our clients, innovate our portfolio, and customize our offerings according to customer needs. Through these strategies, Sohar International will remain steadfast in delivering an elevated retail banking experience.”
Sohar International has achieved remarkable success by prioritizing service excellence and unwavering customer focus in an era of rapid digitalization and innovation. Through agility, creativity, and a relentless commitment to delivering exceptional experiences, the bank has emerged as a leader in transformation, offering unique propositions that enhance the lives of its customers. The bank designs impactful experiences tailored to deliver superior customer satisfaction by cultivating strong relationships and understanding customer priorities. The bank has also created comprehensive financial solutions and a curated ecosystem of services, empowering customers at every stage of their lifestyles and lifecycles. By embracing technological advancements and aligning with customer needs, Sohar International continues to progress as a forward-thinking bank, serving its customers with utmost dedication.
Mr. Al Hedaifi added, saying, “Winning this award isn’t a culmination of our efforts – it is a source of inspiration to push the boundaries and set new benchmarks. As an established leader in retail banking in the Sultanate, Sohar International, while charting new avenues for growth, will pioneer new developments in the banking industry and aid in the socio-economic progress of the nation.”
The awards, organized by World Business, place a strong emphasis on industry mastery, leadership capabilities, industry value or net worth, impeccable strategies for success, and potential on an international forum. Each company is analyzed on several parameters by an expert panel that undertakes rigorous research and data findings. The bank received the prestigious award. The World Business Outlook Awards have established themselves as a highly prestigious and sought-after accolade, gaining remarkable acclaim and acknowledgment from top-tier executives, influential thought leaders, and distinguished market experts representing a wide array of industries on a global scale. With its recent win, Sohar International has solidified its position among an exclusive group of esteemed organizations known for their unwavering commitment to maintaining exceptional standards of excellence across vital aspects of their operations.
Sohar International has successfully positioned itself as a trailblazer within the industry. Garnering recognition at international platforms, the bank recently won the ‘Best Investment Bank in Oman 2023’ award at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence. Earlier, it was bestowed the title of the ‘Best Bank in Growth’ and ‘Industry Leader in Digital Banking’ at the Oman Banking and Finance Awards 2023. Furthermore, at the OER Business Summit 2023, Sohar International was honored with the ‘Key Enabler of Sustainable Economic Growth’ award. The bank also received commendation at the Alam Iktisad Awards, where it was acknowledged as the ‘Top Omani Brand in the Banking Sector’. Such accolades serve to fortify Sohar International’s standing as a leading financial institution that provides exemplary products and services that add value to the lives of its customers.
About Sohar International
With the vision to become a world-class Omani services company that helps customers, community and people to prosper and grow, Sohar International operates with a purpose to help people ‘win’ by delivering responsive banking for their ever-changing world, complementing their growth and prosperity with international standard service delivery. The Bank seeks to redefine banking in Oman through transformational developments centered on the principles of More Velocity, making everything simple and fast; More Value, ensuring relevance and connectivity to customers’ world; and More Vision, liberating stakeholders through talented leadership. www.soharinternational.com


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The U.S. Department
of Commerce (DOC) is announcing an affirmative final determination in the
antidumping duty (AD) investigation of imports of carbon and alloy steel
threaded rod from Thailand.
according to a statement released on Wednesday: that exporters from Thailand
have sold carbon and alloy steel threaded rod at less than fair value in the
U.S. at a rate of 20.83 percent.
of the final affirmative antidumping determination, Commerce will instruct
U.S. Customs and Border Protection to continue to collect cash deposits
equal to the final applicable dumping rate,” DOC said.
In 2018, imports of
carbon and alloy steel threaded rod were valued at an estimated $5.3
The petitioner is
Vulcan Threaded Products Inc. (Pelham, AL).
countervailing duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an
internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects
of the unfair pricing of imports into the United States,” DOC said.
“Commerce currently maintains 498 antidumping and countervailing duty orders
which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair
International Trade Commission (ITC) is currently scheduled to make its
final injury determination on or about Nov. 29. If the ITC reaches an
affirmative final injury determination, Commerce will issue an AD order. If
the ITC reaches a negative final determination of injury, the investigation
will be terminated and no order will be issued.


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Nutritional Supplements: Taking Too Many Vitamins? (cont.)
But most people still aren't getting the right vitamins despite their best efforts, says Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, professor of nutrition at Tufts University in Boston. "Most people need a multivitamin as 'insurance.' Everybody needs to eat more healthfully. While you're trying to get there, take supplements."
In fact, many people don't know what they're taking, Rosenbloom says. "They're picking up OJ at the store, and they don't know what's in it -- is it calcium-fortified, they don't know. People are taking vitamin C supplements but don't know how much."
A Tidbit of Data
A couple of years ago, the Institute of Medicine issued a report listing "tolerable upper intake level" for all vitamins and minerals -- the maximum safe amount that anyone should take.
The upper tolerable limit for adults is 10,000 IU for vitamin A. You get it from animal foods, fish, and dairy products. Also, beta-carotene (from orange and yellow veggies) gets converted to vitamin A in the body. "But the body is smart enough that it doesn't convert all that to vitamin A," Rosenbloom explains.
If you're taking a multivitamin that contains 5,000 IU, plus getting A-fortified foods in your diet, plus eating foods that contain vitamin A, you're probably OK. "It's the supplements we worry about. It's easy to overdo it with pills," she says.
"Most people think it's fine to take as much as they want," says Rosenbloom. "I know people who take 10,000 mg a day." However, the upper tolerable limit is 2,000 mg a day. "People at risk for kidney stones can increase that risk; people also can get diarrhea. Some people have complained of food poisoning, but it turned out they had taken too much vitamin C. People just aren't aware how potent these vitamin supplements are."
"This can be tricky because we need some, and as we get older we need more," Rosenbloom tells WebMD. "But the risk is that we get too much, which can actually cause calcium to leach out of your bones." Vitamin D is found in some calcium supplements; some orange juice products are fortified with vitamin D. If you're somebody who can't drink dairy, getting vitamin-fortified orange juice makes sense. "But if you do drink dairy, and then you take a supplement, it's that layering that I get concerned about," she says.
This is a water-soluble vitamin, which means you just pee out the excess, says Rosenbloom. The upper tolerable limit is 100 mg day, and in pill form it's easy to get that much. "In high doses, people have problems with temporary nerve damage -- they lose feeling in their hands and feet," she tells WebMD.
Fifteen years ago, women were told to take megadoses to help with depression and PMS, but that's been debunked, she says.
People focus on E to prevent Alzheimer's, heart disease, macular degeneration, cancer, "the list goes on," says Blumberg. The upper tolerable level is 1,000 milligrams (1,500 IU); the RDA is 30 IU. "There is no way to get an overdose from diet or fortified foods. In an Alzheimer's study, people took 2,000 IU for four years and didn't have any adverse effects. In another study, people took 800 IU for six years, with no adverse effects, he says.


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News Announcement from Admire HQ!
At Admire PR we are pleased to announce a new competition aimed at equestrian brands or equestrian retailers who have been negatively affected during the pandemic.
Admire PR will offer the lucky winner £500 of free public relations assistance.
This could be used for revamping the winners marketing and PR strategy, for social media and / or blog content creation or can be put towards running a PR campaign.
The competition will close on 30th September 2021 and the winner will be chosen by 10th October 2021.
The winner will be chosen by the Admire team, which consists of 8 staff and 4 consultants and will be based on who they feel as a collective is most deserving of the assistance.
To enter, fill in this FORM


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Meet Mustapha Gajibo, a Borno-based Engineer who makes electric vehicles that goes 200-km on full charge.
His electric vehicles can be charged fully in 35 minutes using solar powered charging platforms.
Mustapha also converts Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)-vehicles into battery-powered ones.
His works, which includes electric, solar-powered commercial buses and tricycles, has attracted the attention of the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) Jelani Aliyu.
But Mustapha is not limiting himself into just putting battery-packs into ICE vehicles as he has even moved a step further in producing his own electric 12-seater buses from scratch.
“We have move a step forward from electrifying buses to full design and fabrication of electric buses locally in Maiduguri, Nigeria. When completed it will be a 12 seater fully air conditioned smart electric bus with a range of 200km on one charge. Endless possibilities…” Gajibo tweeted via his official Twitter handle.
He added that :
“With this piece of technology of ours, we were able maintain the cost of transportation low within our city even though pump price soar across the world. “Endless possibilities”
According to Mustapha, his electric-powered buses would be able to go 200-km on fully charged battery-packs. And to remove the charging anxieties, these electric vehicles can be fully charged in 35 minutes using solar powered charging platforms.


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Ian McLeod, a business analyst as well as founder of blockchain-based firm Thomas Crown Art, said that Bitcoin might lose half of its market share to Ethereum in the following 5 years.
Thomas Crown Art uses a remedy for artists as well as art collectors that turns art right into a safe blockchain purse, which can be utilized as a literal “store of value”.
The analyst’s forecast comes despite the current dip in the prices of many major coins, with Ethereum’s worth dropping nearly 90 percent up until now this year. Inning accordance with the expert, the cost of ETH has actually bad and also will certainly experience a rapid reversal as the energy of its immutable ledger expands.
” Not just do we believe it will rebound considerably before completion of 2018, I think that over the longer time it will considerably dent Bitcoin’s prominence,” McLeod wrote to MarketWatch in an email. “In fact, I believe we can expect Bitcoin to shed 50 percent of its cryptocurrency market share to Ethereum, its local rival, within 5 years.”
This seems fairly a strong case, specifically since ETH costs have slumped from nearly $1,500 to below $200 in under Twelve Month.
McLeod stated that the electronic asset offers more than Bitcoin.”It has allowed us to develop a system to make use of art work as a literal store of value. It additionally resolves credibility as well as provenance issues– essential in the world of art. All our works of art are logged on the Ethereum’s blockchain with an one-of-a-kind ‘smART’ contract” he said.
“Unless Bitcoin does extra now to deal with scalability issues, as well as boosts the modern technology it works on, we can not see just how it can catch up with Ethereum over the next five years or two, when the crypto market will be even more traditional,” he added.
McLeod went on to claim that the issues afflicting Ethereum are nothing compared with exactly what Bitcoin will deal with in the future. “Ethereum is already light years ahead of Bitcoin in everything however cost– as well as this void will end up being progressively noticeable as increasingly more financiers jump into crypto,” he added.
A Business Correspondent at Kranbitcoin, Priya Raja has more than three years of professional experience in journalism. She has worked as an Assistant Editor and Content Writer prior to this, and has done Technical Writing and Business Writing. Outside the professional realm, she loves blogging, painting, crafts, and dancing. Basically, anything CREATIVE!


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Morgans Hotel surges on billionaire's bid
- Staff New York Business Journal
The unsolicited bid, priced at a 13 percent premium to Morgans Hotel’s closing stock price of $7.09 a share on Nov. 1, has a total value of about $261 million, based on the company’s 32.6 million shares outstanding as of Aug. 6.
Shares of New York-based Morgans Hotel jumped 12 percent Monday morning and were up more than 10 percent to $7.81 a share by the afternoon.
Morgans Hotel (Nasdaq: MHGC) said its board will carefully review the proposal with its financial and legal advisors and will determine the appropriate response in due course. The company advised its shareholders not to take any action at this time in response to Yucaipa’s proposal.
In September, Los Angeles-based Yucaipa, a substantial shareholder in Morgans, demanded that the hotel company put itself up for sale and last month filed a lawsuit accusing Morgans of undermining its right to have an observer attend the company’s board meetings, according to Bloomberg.
Burkle also sued OTK Associates, which was founded by Morgans interim CEO Jason Taubman Kalisman and holds about 14 percent of Morgans’ shares, in federal court in Manhattan in July, accusing the company of misleading shareholders in proxy materials, Bloomberg reported.
"We remain concerned about Morgans Hotel Group Co.'s lack of strategic direction and inability to unlock value for its shareholders," Burkle said in a letter to Morgans Hotel's board, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Yucaipa said it would be able to complete an acquisition “expeditiously” and that Morgans should seek other bids to see if it can get a higher price.
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Editors note: This story has been updated to indicate that the changes are dependent on the store location and provides information for finding out if your local store participates.
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW) – Menards is making changes to store policy in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, including requiring everyone to wear face masks and not allowing children under 16 in their stores.
According to the company’s website, at some locations, all shoppers now have to wear a face mask or face covering while in the store. They do have masks available for people to buy if they don’t bring one.
The store also said children under the age of 16 and pets are not allowed in stores, with the exception of service dogs. If a child looks younger than 16, they will be asked to show a driver’s license or other forms of identification.
Some other changes to the stores include reduced store hours, social distancing markers, and increased cleaning.
To find the restrictions in place at your local store, visit Menards.com and select your store at the top of the page before clicking the link to the store’s health and safety plan.
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Get help at the scene of an accident, manage your home inventory, and more! Getting into an accident can be scary, but youre not alone....
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Microsoft's next Windows 10 Mobile test build, expected around early April, will support a lot more Windows Phone test devices than the first build did.
In Android this week was news that Microsoft apps will be preinstalled on Android phones, Galaxy S6 gets an availability date, and Motorola was found guilty of patent infringement.
Just a few minutes after the first NSA leak was published, the phones of US lawmakers began to buzz, hours before most of America would find out over their morning coffee.
UK customers will only be liable for £100 of charges that are racked up on a stolen phone if they report it within 24 hours.
Customers are increasingly mixing in digital channels such as live chat for customer support, but a good phone call is still the road to satisfaction for consumers.
Prepare on time for Easter! Your phone screen can look like the most beautiful holiday card when you download Easter Live Wallpaper...
Australian Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said that the vast majority of metadata queries used by police are to determine who the account holder of a phone is.
Even if a crucial and controversial legal authority expires later this year, the US government will still be able to collect billions of domestic call records on Americans.
Presentation:- How simple and colorful a theme could be? This is it!An awesome way to turn a boring plain mobile interface to a beatiful...
In the world of iOS this week was news about the growing rate of iOS 8 adoption, a trade-in program for Android and BlackBerry phones is coming from Apple, and Nintendo is coming to the iPhone.
Google is rolling out an Android Wear update that will help you find your phone right from your smartwatch.
This week in the world of Android we saw the opening of a physical Google Store, the end of the Nexus 5, and we heard word of USB C coming to Android phones in a big way.
Many people use their phones for GPS navigation in their car, on public transit, and when walking around town. Nokia's HERE for iOS is available now for free with worldwide map support.
In the next evolution phase of the CommBank app, it is expanding Tap & Go payments to all Android phones using Host Card Emulation technology.
The new report furthers allegations that US law enforcement are increasingly relying on intelligence agencies for help, despite rules protecting domestic intelligence operations.
More than 30 members of Congress are rallying behind a bill -- ironically named the 'Internet Freedom Act' -- that threatens the new rules introduced by the FCC.
In the world of Android this week we saw the release of Samsung's latest flagship phones, prediction of Samsung's demise, and Amazon's Appstore is growing at a fast clip.
The Moto E is not the "best" or the "most powerful." But it is the most important.
Gemalto and Tapit have teamed up to enable consumers to leverage NFC technology to make 'frictionless' payments on their mobile phones, and have their transactions billed to their mobile phone.
Are you excited by the new Samsung and HTC smartphones? If you're considering upgrading your old phone, here are some guidelines that will make the process easier and help you avoid unpleasant surprises.
Apple's iPhone 6 might be expensive but the large-screen device is now the favoured smartphone among Chinese consumers.
If MPs can't even be bothered to learn about the work tools they use every day, what hope is there for intelligent debate on mandatory data retention?


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Millennial: Devs must cut prices, cross promote and advertise across Christmas season
What's the proper festive strategy?
With Christmas just around the corner – bringing with it an inevitable huge spike in device activations and app store traffic – ad giant Millennial Media has put out a call to arms for developers.
In the firm's latest blog post, SVP of global monetisation solutions Matt Gillis has claimed the holidays represent the perfect opportunity for developers "to drive more installs and build a bigger base of users."
As such, Gillis represents developers boost their exposure by adopting promotional pricing for paid apps.
Yes and no
Interestingly, however, Gillis' stance comes just as other figures in the industry have come out to advise the exact opposite.
PocketGamer.biz US correspondent and 148Apps writer Carter Dotson took the site yesterday to claim that the festive season, as a whole, is not the gold rush many depict it as.
In his investigation, Dotson explained that the tendency for big publishers to heavily discount games during the holiday season actually makes cracking the charts much harder around Christmas.
And that's also the view of Ed Vause, MD of app marketing service appromoter. In a recent PocketGamer.biz column, he explained that at this time of year, big publishers "will not only drop their prices, but they'll also pump tens of thousands into app advertising and marketing."
"It's a bloodbath out there."
Steps two and three
Nevertheless, Millennial also recommends that developers – naturally – take advantage of mobile advertising campaigns and cross promotion as a means of driving installs throughout the holiday season.
The latter can be effective if you already have an established userbase, of course, although it's questionable how effective cross-promotion would be as a means of picking up new device owners.
An advertising campaign may stand a better chance of driving installs, but a recent Chartboost investigation showed that holidays can create unpredictable fluctuations in cost per install – thanks to a combination of increased traffic and the industry taking the day off.
But while there are clearly some differing perspectives on the best response to the festive rush, it's clear that the season brings with it a significant in both potential audience and hard-hitting competition.
[source: Millennial Media]
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Windows 10’s users get more time to free move to Pro
Photo: NU.nl/Floris Port
Users of the limited version of Windows 10’s get three months for free to Windows 10 Pro.
That has Microsoft by the end of Tuesday published on its blog.
The free transfer is now until march 31, 2018. Said earlier, Microsoft’s customers with Windows 10’s to the turn of the year had to be free to step up to Pro.
Windows 10 is under more on the new Surface Laptop by Microsoft and is a more limited version of Windows. Apps can only from the official Windows Store to be installed and can not simply be downloaded from the internet.
That must be the security of pc’s benefit, but also ensures that many of the older Windows apps are not available in 10 S. Customers that after march 31, even want to switch from Windows 10’s to Pro, have $ 49 to pay.


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Advancing the Quality, Affordability, and Accessibility of Education
As partners to technology and healthcare companies, we are fortunate to often be in the position of “doing good by doing well.” Whether through improving the sustainability of consumer goods (Higg), increasing the availability of behavioral healthcare (LifeStance Health), or replacing paper with eco-friendly digital processes (Formstack, PDFTron Systems), investing in growth has the potential to solve difficult problems and create a more efficient and equitable future. For certain companies, having a positive impact on society is the north star that guides daily operations and long-term strategic decision making. Last week we announced a minority investment in GiveCampus – a company whose rapid organic growth and reputation as a pioneer in the educational fundraising industry is underpinned by an unwavering commitment to a broader mission: to advance the quality, affordability, and accessibility of education. Through its software and payments platform, GiveCampus empowers nonprofit educational institutions to serve its students. It also directly serves this community: in 2020, the company launched The GiveCampus Social Mobility Initiative and pledged $1 million in free fundraising support for programs that help low-income students, first-generation students, and underrepresented minorities.
In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, universities in the United States alone raised $53 billion in charitable donations.¹ Fundraising is a mission-critical revenue source for schools without which tuition prices would soar even more, spending budgets would plummet, and financial aid would be severely limited. Despite obvious tailwinds—an increasingly digital-first alumni base, broader access to richer alumni data, and growth in online payments technology—research shows that younger alumni participate significantly less than older alumni in donating to their alma maters.
Young alumni want targeted, personalized educational fundraising, and this demand hasn’t been adequately met by legacy technology. Younger alumni want the giving process to be not only more efficient but also more transparent. Giving back should be easy, and it should feel good.
Kestrel Linder and Mike Kong founded GiveCampus in 2014 after feeling frustrated by the opaque, arduous process of giving back to their alma mater. In a crowded market with large, legacy vendors, GiveCampus has steadfastly grown to serve over 1,000 higher ed and K-12 institutions across the country, facilitating over $2 billion in charitable giving. Along this journey, Kestrel and Mike have recruited a talented team of industry experts who share their dedication to their customers and unwavering commitment to the company’s mission.
GiveCampus helps schools answer key donor questions that drive conversion: Where are donations going? Who are they serving? Why is the cause important? Their products engage alumni based on personal experience at their school (e.g., sports team, class year, affinity group); with GiveCampus, schools can tap into the sense of community that alumni felt as students. GiveCampus’ bootstrapped, organic growth in a large market, with currently a small sales and marketing operation, speaks to a central theme behind all Silversmith investments: modern products that have grown through organic, word-of-mouth passion and that customers love. Fundraising & development offices celebrate becoming GiveCampus customers with one declaring to alumni that partnering with GiveCampus was “joining the 21st century.”
We are thrilled to partner with Kestrel, Mike, and the entire GiveCampus team as the company’s first institutional investor. We firmly believe in the role that fundraising technology will continue to play in advancing social mobility through access to education. We love that the GiveCampus mission is ambitious and are grateful for the opportunity to support a team with such passion to do good by doing well.


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We've seen the upcoming Aston Martin Vanquish Volante in spy photography before, but the car has never been shot while sitting so cooperatively still as it does for this latest set of images.
- Volvo shoots for self-drivers by 2021
- Jeep spends $1 billion on factories
- Find Parts & Accessories for your vehicle!
- Obama rolls out new EV plan
- Infiniti dealers ranked best, Tesla worst
- Compare Volvo XC90 and Lincoln MKX


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March 19, 2014 by Samantha Lienhard - Leave a comment
Titanfall is one of the biggest multiplayer titles of the year and while we don’t have official sales numbers yet, it seems to have been successful, so it comes as little surprise that EA plans to publish a sequel. GameSpot says “a reputable source” claims EA just got the rights for Titanfall 2. According to Polygon’s sources, it won’t be a Microsoft exclusive.
However, EA refuses to comment on rumors, so take it with a grain of salt.
Do you think Titanfall 2 is coming? Or perhaps we should discuss a more interesting question: what systems do you think Titanfall 2 will appear on?Tags: rumor, titanfall, titanfall 2


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Codephile, an IBM Business Partner based in Jakarta, Indonesia, looked to expand its business into new industry segments, targeting primarily government agencies. Codephile has taken advantage of the IBM Innovation Center in Kuala Lumpur to achieve IBM technology certifications for its solution that uses Lotus software. Codephile also has taken advantage of IBM marketing benefits, including a marketing campaign co-funded by IBM.
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Chemours fluoroproducts sales down 26%
USA: Refrigerant manufacturer Chemours has reported that its fluoroproducts business suffered a 26% drop in sales in Q2 compared to last year.
Fluoroproducts segment net sales in the second quarter were $523m in comparison to $711m in 2019. Volume and price declined 22% and 3%, respectively, on a year-on-year basis.
With the chemical manufacturer reporting lower volume across all its segments, total sales for Q2 were $1.1bn, a 21% drop on last year’s $1.4bn.
Lower volumes in its fluoroproducts business, which includes refrigerants, were said to have been primarily driven by the impact of Covid-19 on global automotive OEMs and industrial end-markets.
Segment adjusted EBITDA of $97m was down 46% on the same quarter in 2019. This was blamed on higher costs from idle production and minimal F-gas quota sales due to illegal imports of HFC refrigerants into the EU.
Describing the first half of 2020 as “one of the most difficult periods” in the company’s short history, Chemours president and CEO Mark Vergnano said: “The outlook for the second half, while improving, remains unclear.”


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David Brigante has been appointed senior vice-president of the new procurement directorate at ATR.
Brigante will be in charge of all supplier contract negotiations at the turboprop aircraft manufacturer, which is based in France. He has joined the firm from Italian aerospace firm Alenia Aermacchi, where he held a variety of positions since joining in 1988. Most recently he served as senior vice-president of customer support and services, with his past positions also including SVP roles for procurement and industrial control and planning.
Meanwhile, SSP America, the company behind food outlets such as Upper Crust and Camden Food Co, has appointed Anthony Montepare as senior vice president of procurement.
In this role Montepare will provide oversight on the purchasing and distribution of all goods and services across SSP’s North American operations. Montepare has worked in food services for over 30 years. Before joining SSP he served as vice president of business needs for the healthcare, business and industry channels of Foodbuy, the food service procurement subsidiary of Compass Group USA.


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Effectiveness of supervision in taxes, food safety to increase in Azerbaijan (PHOTO)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 23
The effectiveness of state supervision in the field of taxes and food security will be increased in Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Taxes Ministry.
This will be possible thanks to the cooperation between the Ministry of Taxes and the Food Safety Agency.
A corresponding memorandum was signed on Jan. 23 by Azerbaijan's Minister of Taxes Mikayil Jabbarov and Chairman of the Food Safety Agency Goshgar Tahmazli.
The memorandum envisages exchanging information on entities and their facilities operating in the production, processing and turnover of food products, as well as the products subject to phytosanitary and veterinary supervision.
The parties will also expand cooperation for taxation of all entities operating in the food industry.
The parties will also carry out joint activity to enlighten entrepreneurs.


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Automakers released U.S. sales of new cars and trucks in November on Friday. These were the top selling vehicles, the number sold and the percent change from last November.
(asterisk)Nissan Rogue sales are estimates based on preliminary data. Nissan's sales totals were delayed and will be released Monday.
Source: Autodata Corp.


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Investments into Brazil economy should reach $15 billion this year,
almost as much as the amount invested the entire decade of the 1980s. With
all this money going into production, which has fueled a frantic rush to
build, buy or merge with local enterprises, some Brazilians have been asking:
“Is Brazil selling its soul to foreign capitalists?”
After years of turmoil and misguided plans, the disposition and determination
of the Brazilian government to put aside political interests in favor of
sound economic measures seem to be paying off at last. Plano Real, the
brainchild of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has not only accomplished
what was considered impossible by bringing inflation down to record lows,
but it has also managed to put Brazil back on the map of foreign investors,
who have been flooding the country with tons of cash.
The avalanche of investments into the local economy is expected to reach
$15 billion this year—almost the same amount invested throughout the entire
decade of the 1980s. All this money will be going into production rather
than the financial market, which has fueled a frantic rush to build, buy
or merge with local enterprises. State-owned companies. Industrial plants.
Retail businesses. Banks. No sector of the economy has escaped the investment
fever that has swept the country.
Approximately 600 projects have been filed with and are pending approval
by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, each worth at least
$10 million of investments. And according to surveys conducted by Price
Waterhouse, multinational companies were the buyers in 70% of the acquisition
deals that took place in the country during the first quarter of this year.
The question that’s been asked is: Is the “sleeping giant” finally coming
out of its inertia, or is Brazil selling its soul to foreign capitalists?
Obviously, ideological rhetoric has no bearing in the investors’ decisions;
facts and numbers do: in this case, they translate into over 160 million
avid consumers of the world’s 10th largest economy. Adding to the allure
is Plano Real’s successful attempt at economic stability which, in turn,
brought an increased buying power to the low-income population, some 80
million people. Without the specter of inflation, these new consumers are
expected to pour over $149 billion into the retail sector this year alone,
a $10 billion increase in their spending habits.
Numerous multinational companies already doing business in Brazil can
attest to the market’s potential. In 1996, for instance, Coca-Cola had
a 3% global growth compared with the 10% registered by its Brazilian subsidiary,
while automobile manufacturer Fiat recorded an increase in revenues of
nearly 7%. (During that same period the Fiat group reported a 3% raise
worldwide.) The company’s latest data shows that car sales in Brazil rose
18% in the first five months of this year, while the group’s unit car sales
Examples of successful performances by foreign investors abound: American
Philip Morris, French Rhodia, Korean Samsug, English Glaxo Wellcome, Swedish
Electrolux…the list goes on and on. The financial sector has also seen
an increasing participation of foreign banks. The new arrivals include
the English Lloyds, the Spanish Santander, the German Dresdner and Hong
Kong Shanghai Bank Corporation, just to mention a few. Several other foreign
institutions await Banco Central’s (Central Bank) authorization to begin
operations in the country.
Nevertheless, the renewed confidence in the Brazilian economy is not
without caution. Brazil’s budget deficit has yet to be trimmed, and it
puts at risk the controlled inflation, Plano Real’s major achievement.
The public sector debt has escalated to $135 billion from $89 billion in
1992, yet much-publicized bills to reform the civil service and the social
security system (which would cut public spending considerably) are still
pending approval, two years after being introduced to Congress.
The trade deficit, expected to reach $13 billion this year, is another
cause for concern. So far the government has been able to deal with the
problem thanks to the great amount of foreign capital being invested in
the country, but that’s a palliative solution, and it doesn’t touch the
core of the problem.
In spite of the risks, analysts believe that the Brazilian economy is
on firmer ground than in the past, and as long as the government keeps
its consistency and commitment to the economic reforms, Brazil will remain
a top target for foreign investors. Recent research released by Site Selection,
the official publication of the International Development Research Council,
shows that Brazil is the 5th investment destination recommended by 24%
of the world’s 100 largest corporate advisors. It loses only to the United
States and China, tied in first place and chosen by 47% of the consultants;
Mexico, with 30%, and the United Kingdom, with 27%. The Brazilian market
is preferred over Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Canada and Germany.
If the investment projects of foreign car manufacturers are any indication,
then it is safe to say that investors are betting on the good predictions
about Brazil’s future. Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, BMW
and Audi are just some of the industry giants with plans to set foot in
the country soon. This year alone the automobile sector is expected to
produce 2 million units, compared to the 960,000 cars manufactured in the
early 90s. By the year 2000, production should reach 2.5 million vehicles,
totaling $17 billion in investments.
Which leads to another wave of mergers, acquisitions and joint-ventures
between local and foreign component makers . The trend among car manufacturers
to produce vehicles that can be exported to any country in the world demands
a supply of standardized parts. However, in order to remain competitive,
national auto parts makers need an advanced technology, which they lack.
Partnerships with multinational companies—themselves eager for a slice
of such a promising market—would therefore seem to be the right path to
Some experts, though, fear that the acquisition process and the substitution
of national components for imported ones may be happening too fast. Although
not against the injection of foreign capital in the economy, they believe
that there should be incentives for the local manufacturing of components,
otherwise Brazil may become a mere assembly line of imports, without being
able to develop its own new technologies.
On the other hand, Brazilian companies that haven’t joined the merger
frenzy are trying to find alternatives in order to survive the overwhelming
international competition, both at home and in the export arena. The solution,
they say, is cost reduction, and major Brazilian manufacturers have already
moved to greener pastures, where they can get cheap labor, government subsidies
or any other type of incentives.
The unexplored interior of Northeastern Brazil has been one of the preferred
destinations of many in the textile sector and in the shoe industry, for
instance. Lacking jobs and all sorts of infrastructure, cities fight for
and welcome the new employers effusively. Some of these areas are so impoverished
that companies have to include lessons on how to use the restroom in their
training programs since many of the employees don’t have such a “luxury”
The Northeastern employees work long hours, earn half of what their
Southern counterparts do and have no benefits. Against such a miserable
scenario, they are nevertheless considered the lucky ones, and even the
labor unions don’t dare to interfere. After all some of these people are
making $120 a month, a small fortune compared to the monthly salary of
$6 paid by the city of Iracema (in the State of Ceará) to its employees.
Will foreign investments and the migration of local companies to needy
areas solve Brazil’s inequalities? Not really, according to some observers.
Most of the investments, both foreign and national, still go to the wealthier
South and Southeast regions, especially after the creation of Mercosul.
Others with even a more pessimistic viewpoint argue that, despite the billions
of dollars being poured into the country, not much will change if the government
doesn’t address major issues, such as the politicians corruption, illiteracy,
the no-land movement, and other pressing social matters.
In the meantime, the multinational companies keep coming, bringing along
lots of money, modern technologies and their sophisticated installations
which, in turn, will require an improved infrastructure—from better roads
and telecommunications systems to better education for its work force.
The cards are on the table, place your bets.
After spectacular gains of over 80% since January, Brazilian stocks plummeted
in July, leaving analysts to wonder what the stock market’s future will
Recent currency troubles in Asian markets were blamed for the plunge
in stock prices as many feared that investors would be pulling their money
out of Brazil to cover losses in Asia. The heavy fall of the Bovespa (São
Paulo Stock Exchange) index sent shock waves throughout Latin America’s
stock exchanges, in a reaction that was dubbed by some as the “samba effect”—a
reference to the “tequila effect” caused by the 1994 collapse of the Mexican
However, government officials dismissed any comparisons with Asia and
regarded the drop in Brazilian stocks as a normal reaction of investors
taking profits after the exuberant gains registered during the first six
months of the year. In June, Bovespa traded an average of $1.1 billion
worth of shares each day. That rise put the São Paulo Stock Exchange
on par with big world markets, such as Canada and Hong Kong where stock
exchanges trade an average daily volume of $1.07 and $1.17 billion respectively.
According to the experts, local small investors, usually wary of such
a speculative market, have been the main force behind the extraordinary
performance of the Brazilian stocks. As inflation declined, so did the
returns on fixed-income investments, thus the rush to the stock funds.
If the investors will remove their money from the market after July’s plunge
remains to be seen. (M. A.)
Marta Alvim is a Brazilian journalist, freelance translator
and interpreter. You can reach her at email@example.com


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Back in late January, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts federal district court charging cryptocurrency issuer My Big Coin Pay Inc. and several individuals with commodity fraud and misappropriation of $6 million. At that time the judge in the case froze My Big Coin’s (MBC) assets along with those of company founders Randall Crater and Mark Gillespie along with other defendants.
The case goes to trial Thursday in Massachusetts and the defendants are arguing that the CFTC has no authority to regulate cryptocurrencies. Crater’s attorneys argue that the CFTC lacks authority over the company because cryptocurrencies are neither commodities nor a service that is traded using futures contracts.
Reuters cites Neal Kumar, an attorney at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who explained that MBC may still lose because the Commodity Exchange Act defines services as commodities even if there are no futures contracts associated with them but that such contracts could be created in the future. Kumar said, “The argument that falls flat for [MBC] is that there needs be current or existing futures contracts. And that’s just not what statute says.”
The CFTC in 2015 declared virtual currencies to be a commodity and claimed investigatory power, including the authority to subpoena exchange operators. However the CFTC primarily concerns itself with professional commodity traders trading on spot exchanges, not small retail investors who are the most likely targets of fraudulent cryptocurrency offers. Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency currently traded on futures markets.
If MBC prevails in court the CFTC’s regulatory authority over cryptocurrencies takes a major hit and may leave the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the federal agency with the most authority over cryptocurrencies. Just last week the SEC defined tokens such as those sold in initial coin offerings (ICOs) are securities and may be regulated by the SEC. Coins like bitcoin and MBC are not securities.
Either the CFTC prevails in court (and the inevitable appeals) or the Congress is going to have to give the SEC or the CFTC some other agency control over cryptocurrencies. In the CFTC’s complaint against MBC the agency alleges:
Defendants fraudulently solicited potential and existing MBC customers throughout the United States by making false and misleading claims and omissions about MBC’s value, usage, and trade status, and that MBC was backed by gold. Defendants also allegedly fraudulently solicited numerous customers in the District of Massachusetts, receiving in excess of $5 million from those customers. … As customers began to raise questions about their MBC accounts, Defendants attempted to conceal their fraud by issuing additional coins to customers and falsely representing that they had secured a deal with another exchange to trade MBC …. Defendants allegedly encouraged customers to refrain from redeeming their MBC holdings until MBC was active on this ‘new’ exchange.
The CFTC has announced eight cryptocurrency-related cases to date.


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Amsterdam: great place to shop
Amsterdam's most expensive shopping thoroughfare, the P.C. Hooftstraat, has come in at number three on the list of the world's nicest places to shop.
Singapore's Orchard Road came at the top of the list, which is in its fourth year of publication. Luxembourg's Avenue de la Liberté came second. The list is compiled by the international shopping public on behalf of the French marketing agency Presence.
Almost 400 shops, restaurants and showrooms across the world were visited and – anonymously - rated. The categories include location, presentation, customer service, atmosphere and style.
The other two streets in the top five are Bagdat Avenue in Istanbul and Sao Paulo’s Oscar Freire. Linking Road, Bandra in Mumbai came at the bottom of the list.
jric ©Radio Netherlands Worldwide
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide


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In a weekend press release they probably hoped no one would notice, GM announced Sunday, July 29, that global marketing chief Joel Ewanick was leaving the company.
The timing didn’t work, because industry and business news media are now alive with speculation over whether he was allowed to resign or was unceremoniously dumped and, in either event, why. “A press release issued by GM states that Ewanick had ‘elected to resign immediately,’ while a report by Automotive News claims he was dismissed,” Autoblog reports.
All that spokesman Greg Martin would say was, “He failed to meet the expectations the company has of an employee,” which raises more questions than it answers.
But the answer may fall into one of three categories — or perhaps a combination of all three of them.
Theory 1: dumb decisions
The first possibility is plain old incompetence, which, historically, has rarely been a reason for getting fired from GM before.
But there’s no mistaking the fact that a large number of marketing decisions made on Ewanick’s watch were really dumb ones.
Ewanick green-lighted the vapid and meaningless “Chevy Runs Deep” campaign, which Autoblog calls “controversial” and “which critics have said falls short of providing an identity or narrative for GM’s mainstay brand,” according to industry paper of record Automotive News.
After a Super Bowl Chevy truck commercial produced an immediate decline in interest in the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and a massive surge of hits for the rival Ford F-150 on the Kelly Blue Book website (and in showroom traffic), Ewanick announced the auto company was pulling out of Super Bowl advertising, supposedly because “it’s just getting too expensive.”
After taking the better part of a year to learn that his $10 million worth of Facebook advertising “had little impact on consumers,” Ewanick pulled the plug on Facebook advertising, just days before its IPO.
But while GM was using Facebook to promote planting trees in national forests, rival Ford was using the same medium to increase Explorer shopping by 104%; producing amazingly high volumes of leads, test drives and conversions for Fiesta; and getting one million views a day for their Mustang “customizer” app.
As Samsung Mobile’s Brian Wallace put it, “Blaming Facebook for a lack of ROI on your advertising is akin to blaming the [I]nternet because no one purchased from your website.”
According to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, though, Ewanick’s biggest advertising mistake — and certainly his most recent one — may have been one that’s not on television and the Internet for everyone to see: “[P]eople familiar with the matter said Ewanick was removed for failing to adequately appraise the financial details of a recent sponsorship deal with Manchester United, a popular U.K. soccer team.”
Theory 2: doesn’t work and play well with others
“Mr. Ewanick has been a polarizing force both within GM and on Madison Avenue,” notes Sharon Terlep in the Wall Street Journal.
“He’s full of energy and vim and vigor and comes across as a glass breaker,” said his former boss, CEO Dan Akerson. “He is willing to challenge the status quo of the corporation…”
In a company infamous for management by committee and consensus, that can be the kiss of death.
“One of my jobs is to make sure people don’t relax, to keep the tension high,” Ewanick said in an earlier interview. “I don’t mean to hurt people, but everything matters now and we have to be great.”
As noted above, “great” isn’t quite the right word to describe his advertising decisions. And a lot of people both inside GM and out took umbrage from them — not only his Facebook decision and its timing, but also his riling the television networks by unsuccessfully demanding 20% rate cuts on top of the deep discounts America’s third-largest tv advertisier already enjoyed, at the risk of losing upfront availabilities.
His firing dozens of advertising agencies to consolidate worldwide creative into one Detroit agency and worldwide media buying into one London firm may save GM $2 billion over five years as promised, but at the cost of lots of bruised egos.
Theory 3: scapegoat
Despite press reports about Government Motors’ resurgence, the numbers look much worse in context.
Celebratory news releases boast of this year’s Chevy Volt sales — 8,817 through June — exceeding all of last year’s 7,600 and projecting to about 18,000 cars total look great — until you remember that the announced Volt sales goal for 2012 was 45,000.
So does a six-month overall sales gain of 4%, until you realize that’s in a market up 15% and represents an actual loss of share.
This performance has inspired what the Automotive News gently characterizes as a certain “volatility within GM’s executive ranks under Dan Akerson, who became GM’s CEO a few months after Ewanick joined.”
Either to cure a massive string of failures, or maybe to shift blame for them, Akerson has been firing senior executives left and right.
He replaced GM’s product development chief and the head of money-losing European operations. Twice. He replaced the CFO, a high-profile hire from Microsoft, along with the company’s manufacturing and engineering heads. He’s appointed two new OnStar unit chiefs in as many years.
So maybe Ewanick’s was just the latest head to roll.
GM ranked 12th out of 13 brands in this year’s Consumer Reports automotive scorecard. Not one of their products is on Truecar.com’s list of the ten most popular cars brands with women. They’ve had 50,000-car recalls, Volt battery fires, plant closings due to lack of consumer demand, and major-market dealerships refusing to accept new-car deliveries.
Changing the advertising and adopting Queen of Hearts executive personnel policies (“Off with their heads!”) won’t solve those problems.
It would be nice if something would. Because with their largest stockholder being the United States of America (Barrack H. Obama, CEO), all the money GM’s losing is yours and mine.


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Samsung has launched its latest mid-range smartphone, the Galaxy A23 5G, in India online. The device is now listed and available for purchase on Amazon.in, with a starting price of ₹22,999 for the 6GB RAM model (SM-A236E) and ₹24,999 for the 8GB RAM model ( SM-A236E ). The MRP price in India ranges from ₹28,990 – ₹30,990.
Even though this model is launching in India in 2023, it was announced back in 2022. So basically, this is Galaxy A23 2022 model.
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor
- 6GB – 8GB ram
- 128GB storage
- 6.6-inch Full HD+ screen
- 120hz support
- 5000mAh battery
- Android 12 with Samsung One UI 5
- Full HD video recording
The Galaxy A23 5G boasts a sleek and stylish design, available in Silver, Light Blue, and Orange color options. Under the hood, the device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 octa-core processor with a clock speed of 1.7GHz to 2.2GHz. The device features a 6.6-inch FHD+ PLS LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, providing a smooth and responsive user experience.
Galaxy A14 5G SM-A146B is another Android smartphone Samsung launched in India recently. This is cheaper than the Galaxy A23, and is powered by Mediatek MT6833 Dimensity 700 processor.
We recommend checking the seller’s reviews before buying an expensive product online. Only buy from trusted sellers online for the best experience.
Galaxy A23 5G comes with a triple-lens rear camera setup comprising of a 50MP F1.8 aperture main camera, a 5MP ultra-wide-angle camera, and 2MP macro and depth sensors. The front-facing camera is an 8MP sensor, perfect for selfies and video calls. According to the specs available on Samsung Website, the max resolution video recording this supports is Full HD video recording at 30fps.
The Galaxy A23 5G is equipped with a big 5000mAh battery and comes with several features such as Game Booster, Dolby Atmos, Samsung Knox security, and a fingerprint sensor built into the power button. The device runs on Android 12 with Samsung’s One UI 5, providing a seamless user experience. It is expected to get Android 13 update in the coming months. Samsung already updated the US Galaxy A23 model to Android 13 a few weeks back.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A23 5G is a solid mid-range smartphone with a great set of features at a reasonable price. With 5G support, a high-refresh-rate display, and a capable camera system, the Galaxy A23 5G is a great option for those looking for a budget-friendly device that doesn’t compromise on performance.


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Debunks theory that recent upsurge was due to pent-up or festival demand, says food inflation is seasonal and will cool down
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday contested the observation in certain quarters that the recent economic recovery was due to the pent-up and festival demand and would soon wither away, saying every sector had showed that the revival would sustain. She also did not agree with the view that proper recovery would have to wait till 2022-23, and said it would happen next year itself and the vaccine would aid that process.
“Things are looking up in terms of recovery. I am not going into alphabet jugglery whether it is V, or K or any other alphabet, but every sector is showing clear signs of a revival. Some would say patchy, but recovery is consistently happening over the last two months,” Sitharaman said at HT Leadership Summit. She said just the pent-up or festival demand could not explain the over Rs 1-trillion goods and services tax (GST) collection for two months.
“Yes, normally this is a season when festival demand always adds a bit more fervour to the demand, which prevails through in a year. I also see reports and I am also talking to industry leaders who are looking at capacity expansion,” she said.
She said in core sector industries — be it cement, be it iron and steel, integrated plants –all are going for capacity expansion.
“The people of India, given all challenges, have just kept going, and today that’s the reason for revival.”
To a query that private investments are weak,she said,”You are seeing expansion in capacities… it can’t be without investment in the private sector.”
“More investments (are being made) into expanding capacity , not just in one unit, but across the country. You are hearing of expansion,” Sitharaman said.
She said prevailing demand has shown up in purchasing managers’ index (PMI) in both manufacturing and services.
However, one has to wait to see if credit is also expanding.
“It is an indication that additional demand is coming in.. I don’t think it is pent up or festival-driven demand … it is likely to sustain,” Sitharaman asserted.
RBI’s monetary policy and inflation:
Sitharaman said she was not worried about inflation to the extent that there are seasonal ups and downs in prices.
“If you see food grains and edible commodities, such as fruit and vegetables and edible oils these are seasonal fluctuations. I am also happy that the inter-ministerial group has very frequently been looking at changes and taking conscious calls to fill in any supply level shortage through imports and any logistical constraints adding to supply shortage,” she said.
She said this blip in inflation, particularly in food items, will ease out. “I don’t see inflation in food items will continue.. It will have to come down,” she pointed out.
To a query that after RBI’s move to hold rates, is there more pressure on the government to go for a far more growth oriented budget, she said it is always a careful balance between monetary and fiscal policies.
“It is a real time balance that RBI and the finance ministry will have to do. It has to be a delicate well studied balance at a time when we are looking at reviving the economy at the earliest possible.. So coordination with RBI will be important and we will continue to do that,” she said.
She said one has to wait till details on vaccination come out to talk about fund allocation for vaccines.
“As of today we don’t know what will be the details which come with the vaccine…If it is going to be one dose or two doses…Whether two doses are going to be sufficient or recurrent doses will be needed,” she pointed out.
She said she needed to know the cost per dose and the cycle to decide about any number on fund allocation for vaccines.
RBI’s internal group recommendation on corporate-promoted banks:
Sitharaman said it is an RBI internal paper. “RBI hasn’t taken a position. It is not being discussed for the first time.”
She said negotiations between the government and agitating farmers are still going on and hence it will not be right for her to comment on minimum support prices (MSP).
“See MSP between 2014 and 2020, compared to similar years previously. We have proven that we have taken MSP seriously. We procure under MSP much more than what previous governments did and also gave farmers a lot more money. The MSP continues and APMCs continue. Doubt on those need not be there,” she explained.
“Many Parliamentary committees have also discussed some aspects (of farm Bills)… it is not something which is just done in a jiffy. They have gone through the grind for sometime.”
The finance minister said she is getting extreme views on the subject. Some are saying forget the number and print notes. Many are saying that she has to concentrate on capex for multiplier effect, she disclosed.
“One thing is clear, the fiscal deficit is not what was said in the budget. It is going to be higher than that,” she said.
She said the GST Council should take a call that it doesn’t decide to change rates in each of its sitting. “Increasing or reducing rates upsets calculations of the Centre and states on the revenue front,” she argued.
She said if GST rates can be tweaked once in a year like the Budget, there would be predictability. “I am sure the Council won’t hesitate to discuss this and take a call on the matter,” she said.
She said the Council is a very robust mechanism and I truly appreciate every finance minister who comes and represents its state and for keeping that spirit up.


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Mumbai: Air India’s grooming guidelines for its cabin attendants has spelt out minute details such as hair gel for male crew and female crew can use only four black bobby pins. Under government control, Air India
had rather lax norms, allowing room for its crew’s personal preferences within a broader dressing code.
Black or religious thread on wrist, neck, ankle, not permitted. As if alluding to social media influencers, guidelines state that crew should not wear the uniform and its accessories when off-duty.
While an exhaustive list was issued over a month ago, the airline recently issued another document which highlighted key changes in uniform guidelines with the don’ts highlighted in a bold font. The grooming guidelines issued earlier covers aspects such as code of conduct (crew shall not carry plastic bags or shopping bags in public area), deportment, etiquette, personal hygiene, method of carrying uniform etc.
Airline sources said the changes haven’t yet been adopted by the crew entirely. “For decades now, the finer details of the grooming norms haven’t been strictly adhered to. Details such as hair color, or shaving the head, wearing tie-pins, these were never enforced. Enforcement will happen with the newer lot of flight attendants first,” said a crew, requesting anonymity.


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The makers of Jotun, an indie game which was released earlier this month on console platforms, have announced a new H.P. Lovecraft inspired indie title by the name of Sundered.
Thunder Lotus Games have described Sundered as a procedurally generated metroidvania that features a gorgeous hand drawn art style. In the game, you’ll play as Eshe, a lone explorer in a cavernous world full of ruin and horror. You’ll fight against “hordes of enemies” through roguelike caves using various relics that give you abilities that compromise your humanity.The developers have said that Sundered will also have “massive boss fights”, multiple endings and “infinite replayability”.
Sundered is a single player experience that will be coming out in 2017 for the PS4 and PC. Check out Sundered on Steam.


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The News Wheel Editors: Our First Vehicles
Here at The News Wheel, our editing staff is a close-knit bunch. We spend our days bringing you the latest car news, attending car shows, and laughing about some of the ridiculous stories we see online. But this time, we’ve decided to bring you a story a bit closer to our hearts.
Everyone’s first vehicle has a significance to them; whether it was a beat-up clunker hand-me-down from your grandpa or you saved up your pennies to purchase it yourself, our first cars mean something to us. For the sake of nostalgia, we’ve put together a list of our team’s first vehicles.
The News Wheel is a digital auto magazine providing readers with a fresh perspective on the latest car news. We’re located in the heart of America (Dayton, Ohio) and our goal is to deliver an entertaining and informative perspective on what’s trending in the automotive world. See more articles from The News Wheel.


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THE prevalence of vaping among teenagers in Malaysia rose from 9.8 per cent in 2017 to 14.9 per cent in 2022.
So it’s crucial to address the safety of vape products.
Often misled by the fruity flavours promoted by vape products, many are unaware that these liquids commonly contain chemicals such as nicotine, propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG), flavourings, dyes, cooling agents and other undisclosed ingredients.
It’s vital for users to recognise how these components can adversely affect the lungs and the breathing system.
For instance, the ratio of PG to VG can alter the feel of vaping.
PG, with its thinner consistency, provides a distinct “throat hit”.
When these compounds are heated, they may produce toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds.
Prolonged exposure to harmful volatile compounds can damage the lungs, potentially leading to conditions like E-cigarette or Vaping Use-Associated Lung Injury (Evali) and popcorn lung (bronchiolitis obliterans).
Findings from a study by our research team at Sunway University’s School of Medical and Life Sciences further highlight safety concerns.
After analysing 10 vape liquid brands, we found that 70 per cent contained higher PG levels than what their labels stated.
More alarmingly, 80 per cent of tested vape liquid samples contained traces of ammonia, a chemical present in diverse products like fertilisers, hair dyes, and plastics.
It’s worth noting that the absorption rate of nicotine in the lungs can vary depending on the chemicals added to vape liquids.
Agents such as formaldehyde, alcohol, ammonia, and acids might alter how nicotine interacts with our body system, potentially heightening addiction risks.
Vape users should be vigilant about what they are inhaling.
It’s vital for the public to recognise that unlike the digestive system, which can purge harmful substances through mechanisms like vomiting or diarrhoea in cases of food poisoning, our lungs lack such excretion capabilities.
As a result, chemicals from vaping can accumulate in the lungs, leading to Evali and popcorn lung.
People, particularly the younger generation, should reflect on the implications of vaping, considering the harmful chemicals inhaled.
Also, the presence of undisclosed chemicals and inconsistent ingredient lists highlight the need for rigorous product registration and post-marketing surveillance by the health authorities.
Source: New Straits Times


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ShutDown: Consumer Fraud Investigations Halted
The United States government has been shut down for almost four weeks, sending shockwaves throughout a nation already gripped by tumultuous politics and controversial issues. In addition to institutions like the National Parks System, and the National Institute of Health, all federal employees have currently been laid off from duty, and a majority of their services suspended. The ripple effect is dizzying, with many of the governments services being on hold for the duration of the shutdown. Many consumers across the country are not aware of the shutdown’s impact on some of our nation’s best departments, so you can imagine their shock when they phoned to report a consumer complaint, and were told the government couldn’t help them.
When running normally, the government requires a wealth of quality communication to run smoothly. As many federal employees remain on furlough, therefore not being compensated, everyone’s level of communication with one another is atypical and—as many federal employees are called in without pay—constantly breaking down. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is the federal agency that fields the influx of consumer complaints. A consumer submits their complaint about a business or financial entity to the CFPB, which is reviewed. According to the CFPB, after the complaint is reviewed, “We’ll forward your complaint and any documents you provide to the company and work to get a response from them. If we find that another government agency would be better able to assist, we will forward your complaint to them and let you know.” The CFPB remains in operation and was not effected by the shutdown, but if the agency is ill-equipped to deal with the complaint, they may never get off the ground, as the appropriate department might be effected by the shutdown. This leaves many consumers displaced when it comes to voicing their concerns about products and services.
This suspension of protection services has allowed the beast of robo-calls to fester and become feral, as consumers cannot block or report harassing robo-calls. They’re left screaming into the void. Alex Quilici, the chief executive of YouMail—a smartphone application that helps consumers block robo-calls—describes it, “It’s a neighborhood with no police on the beat.” YouMail estimated, just last month, there were 5 billion robo-calls made, and 50% of calls made in early 2019 could be coming from scammers and robots attempting to fraudulently obtain your information. These horrifying statistics are the codas for a chorus of federal employees who are aware of the scope of the problem, like Jessica Rosenworcel, the Federal Communications Commission Commissioner, “The number of robo-calls consumers are receiving is insane. The problem just keeps growing. Shutting down the government is not going to help.” As of this moment, there is no one to administrate the “Do Not Call” list, the national registry in which consumers can ask specific companies not to contact them.
The Federal Communications Commission is just one of many threads woven into the Federal Trade Commission. Another voiceless victim of the shutdown is the victim of identity fraud. Louette Duvall is one of these victims. Not long after the holidays were over, Duvall’s car was pilfered by thieves while she was at her job. They made off with her purse, her briefcase, and a wealth of identifying information that amounted to a scammer’s treasure trove. Fraudulent charges started rolling in as she scrambled to alert all of her creditors and financial institutions that she had been robbed. She began calculating the full scope of the theft’s ramifications: New checkbooks ordered, extravagant items ordered in her name, new credit cards, the list goes on and on. When she called the Federal Trade Commission to let them know her identity had been stolen, she was told they could not help her due to the government shutdown. FTC data prior to the shutdown stated that the agency received thousands of calls a day regarding identity theft alone. That’s thousands of crimes going uninvestigated every day, a Washington Post reporter pointed out when they became a victim as well. Not only are new crimes going unreported, but investigative resources are also frozen. The Consumer Sentinel Network helps investigators track the movement of identity theft and related frauds to build cases against the perpetrators, and it remains down as of day 26 of the longest government shutdown in history. At a minimum, the FTC is still allowing individuals to file complaints so that they be issued an affidavit for their creditors’ purposes.
News coverage of the shutdown has attempted to sharpen the big picture for Americans when it comes to the ripple effect of the government shutdown. While many federal agencies might be unable to assist consumers with complaints, there is recourse for consumers experiencing the myriad of issues helmed by the Federal Trade Commission. There are online, step-by-step resources for obtaining documentation to dispute fraudulent charges and claims. Consumers can also retain the services of a private investigator. One of the most beneficial aspects of hiring a private investigator is that they are the top of the chain of command in their firm. They are the ones calling the shots in any investigation, not a supervisor nor a superior. They will represent your interests and your interests alone. As is the case with many frauds and thefts, perpetrators tend to either operate remotely, or move quickly to evade law enforcement. Acting independently, private investigators will be able to move as fluidly as a scammer, crossing jurisdictional boundaries with little to no red tape. Statistics surrounding fraud indicate that many federal investigators in charge of tracking down scammers and thieves are inundated with a never-ending stream of complaints. This means their attention can be divided over and over again across a heavy caseload. A typical private investigator only handles between 3-4 cases at a time, meaning your case can be a priority for them and not just another file in a drawer.
Political pundits and talking heads don’t project a sunny forecast when it comes to the shutdown—no end in sight. As the shutdown enters its 27th day, many Americans who have been the victims of consumer fraud and identity theft who do not yet know the full scope of the shutdown’s impact will receive an ugly surprise when they turn to the federal government for help. While the government gets its house in order, know that there are options for victims of consumer and identity fraud. Consult a private investigator today to learn how their specific skill set, experience, and independence can help you get right the ship when it comes to fraud.


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Contrary to popular belief (in certain circles), Apple isn’t perfect. Among its many hit products like the iPhone or the iPad, and popular software releases like iOS, there has been a few failures.
Ping, the company’s music-focused social networking service, certainly falls into that category. It’s just never really gained much user-traction. And rumor has it, it’s on its way out…
All Things Digital‘s Apple guru John Paczkowski reports:
“And rather than continue to maintain Ping, the company is abandoning it and using its partnerships with Twitter and Facebook to make its various software and service offerings social in a way that consumers actually care about.
Sources close to the company say that Ping, which still exists today in iTunes 10.6.3, will be gone with the software’s next major release, likely scheduled for this fall. And at that point Apple’s social networking offerings will shift to Twitter and new partner Facebook entirely.”
Paczkowski has a pretty good track record with Apple rumors, accurately predicting iPad 3 and iOS 6 details ahead of their announcements. Besides, we’re not sure anyone would be surprised at Ping’s retirement.
Apple launched Ping less than two years ago, as a way for iTunes users to discover new music. But when an important deal with Facebook fell through, and user activity dropped, it seemed the service was destined to fail.
It’s worth noting that DaringFireball‘s John Gruber, a well-known Apple pundit, says he’s hearing that the company is still deciding what to do with its Ping platform. But honestly, between Tim Cook’s D10 comments, and the recent iOS 6 announcements, we’d be surprised if it made it past the fall.
Does anyone still use Ping?


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Target reported its winter holiday sales “rose solidly as more shoppers bought goods online, adding to a series of strong results from the retailer during the Covid-19 pandemic,” WSJ reports.
Why It Matters: While retailers have mixed results to show for the usually lucrative period, Target, and other large retail firms, have had good fortunes during the pandemic, primarily those who stayed open during the early part of lockdown or sell food, home goods or other essential products for those staying home. But for the top performers, having “robust e-commerce businesses already in place before the pandemic” has proved vital as more shopping transitions online.
Numbers To Consider:
- Comparable Sales For November and December (Store or Digital Channels Operating For At Least 12 Months): +17%
- Store-Based Sales: +4.2%
- Digital Sales: More Than Doubled
- Target said around 95% of the company’s sales in the period were sourced from stores.
- Lululemon raised its Q4 guidance after a strong holiday season.
- Bed Bath & Beyond’s comparable sales rose 2% on the year.
What To Expect: “A clearer picture of holiday sales will emerge Friday when the U.S. releases retail sales figures for December.”
A Shifting Business: Many retailers opened the holiday deal season early this year to reduce in-store crowding and manage the strain on e-commerce supply chains. Target plans to carry that trend into 2021 after the “revised promotional calendar proved effective.” Target was one of many retailers to close on Thanksgiving and announced it will do so again in 2021.
Target ($TGT) is trading for 12.7x forward EBITDA and a 3.75% free cash flow yield. Given this is twice the valuation of where it’s traded in 2018-2019, this stock does not pass my initial smell test.


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At that time, the transaction of about 2 billion yuan was known as the first acquisition of McDonald’s in many years, and it was also the largest transaction of the fast food giant in 20 years.
According to a joint announcement issued by McDonald’s and MasterCard in the evening, MasterCard will acquire dynamic year, the “most advanced personalized platform and decision engine company” of McDonald’s. The bulletin said that dynamic field’s technology is a natural supplement to MasterCard’s existing service suite and can help brands provide a “more effective and reliable” customer experience across channels.
According to the data, McDonald’s acquisition of dynamic field in 2019 cost more than $300 million (about RMB 2 billion) is the largest acquisition of McDonald’s in 20 years. McDonald’s international executives said at that time that this is a core part of the company’s evolving digital strategy. Using customer data flow to help retailers provide personalized digital marketing to consumers is an important value of dynamic yield. Its customers also include IKEA, Forever 21 and Fendi 。
During the acquisition, Steve Easterbrook, former CEO of McDonald’s, once said that the Israeli start-up company would play a greater role in McDonald’s technology and big data, and provide consumers with a more personalized experience. It is reported that dynamic field has been operating as an independent company since it was acquired by McDonald’s.
As a core part of its evolving digital strategy, McDonald’s idea is to use dynamic field technology in its drive thru Restaurant – the digital display of drive thru restaurant will change in real time according to factors such as weather and customer ordering content. For example, in hot weather, the display screen of drive through restaurant will sell McDonald’s ice cream cone.
Although the acquisition was interpreted by the outside world as “McDonald’s is more and more willing to get involved in new technologies to enhance its competitiveness in the highly competitive fast food industry”, earlier this year, American media pointed out that McDonald’s local franchisees said that the platform did not bring the previously promised sales boost.
To this end, McDonald’s announced a strategic evaluation of the platform in March. An evaluation of the deal by the company indicated that dynamic field’s technology contributed less to sales than originally reported.
In the circular released today, the trading parties did not disclose the price of this “transfer”. McDonald’s reiterated the role of dynamic field, saying that the acquisition made McDonald’s one of the first brands to integrate decision-making technology into restaurants. In addition, after McDonald’s acquisition, dynamic field doubled its revenue and expanded its customer base in the vertical field.
“So far, dynamic field’s technology has been applied to McDonald’s pick-up speed and ordering scenarios in many markets around the world.” McDonald’s said today that it plans to further expand and integrate dynamic field’s capabilities in the global ordering channel.
MasterCard said that with the help of dynamic field technology, MasterCard will be able to help customers and partners meet the growing needs of consumers for more personalized experience, no matter where they shop or conduct business.
It is reported that the transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.


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Our last report outlined that although the ecosystem viewed security as necessary, the industry was still on the brink of a transformation. It was ready to make that leap of faith but had yet to spring into action. Today, we are seeing an industry with one foot already off the diving board, with the final hurdle towards a perfect dive being around collective action.
When we consider IoT security, we refer to products, services, and platforms designed from the ground up to be secure from cyber-attacks. It is becoming a priority for countless industries and businesses. Increasingly, enterprises are waking up to the commercial and practical benefits of IoT security, while their users, partners and employees are increasingly starting to ask for it. The economy is ready for IoT security to be the norm.
Our survey found that 4 in 5 respondents agree that security has increased as a priority over the past 18 months, largely due to regulatory pressure and consumer demands. Over a third believe distributed working and the pandemic have increased the likelihood of IoT hacks, with 17% of respondents citing they had been the personal victim of an IoT hack, and 22% of companies they work for suffering similarly. There is also a recognition that security adds value to products, with 69% agreeing that you can potentially charge a premium for products with security built-in as it increases trust and helps technology to scale faster.
Finally, building on the PSA Certified Security Report 2021, we’re seeing that the importance of the Root of Trust and trusted components continues to increase across the ecosystem.


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Bragg sitting on £1.3m windfall
Labour peer Melvyn Bragg is sitting on a £1.365 million windfall following Capital Radio's agreed all-paper offer for Border Television in a deal valuing the group at £146 million.
TV arts presenter and novelist Lord Bragg holds 105,000 shares in Border from the time he was chairman.
But Bragg is likely to gain even more by sitting tight. It seems certain that Scottish Radio Holdings, which initially launched a hostile £116 million bid last month, will return to the fray.
Scottish Radio last week upped its offer to five new SRH shares for every six Border shares, valuing the group at £136 million.
The market is bracing itself for a bidding war.
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The Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) says the 34 million litres of diesel released by the government is woefully inadequate because they are not getting the required amount for onward distribution to fuel stations across the country.
â€œWe have our tankers at the depots and they are not getting the number of orders that they have placed so you can imagine an OMC which has got 70 retail outlets and being allocated four trucksâ€¦so itâ€™s not really not the best of situations that we have now,â€ said the Chief Executive Officer and Industry Coordinator of the OMCs, Kwaku Agyeman Duah.
The Energy Ministry on Monday announced it has released 34 million litresÂ of diesel for distribution to filling stations across the country to minimize the current fuel shortage.
This followsÂ an acute shortage of diesel in some parts of the country specifically, the Ashanti Region, Volta Region, Western Region and the Northern Regions.
But the Energy Ministry says the amount released is expected to last for a week.
Mr. Agyeman Duah onÂ Eyewitness NewsÂ clarified that the products will take between three to four days to reach the consumer therefore, the shortage will still be experienced in the affected areas for a while.
He commended the government for releasing the products because according to him, the shortage was adversely affecting the economy.
He noted that most commercial vehicles, long distance vehicles and petroleum tankers relied on diesel to ply their trade and so the shortage was affecting their operations.
The CEO of the Oil Marketing Companies recommended that consumers must pay thr right price for the product to end the frequent shortages.
â€œWe all have to learn to pay the right price of fuelâ€¦at the right time.Â If we are going to pay the right price and we donâ€™t pay on time, we are going to have Forex losses,â€ he added.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana


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3-D printing is an exciting new technology that promises to revolutionize the medical device industry.
To date, a wide variety of products, including polymer organ models, custom-fit prosthetics and synthetic tissue scaffolds have been designed, developed and manufactured using three-dimensional printing technology.
Experts believe the next big industry to be revolutionized by the 3-D printer is the pharmaceutical industry.
In the wake of the FDA’s first approved 3-D printed drug – which happened earlier this year – and the promise of three others in the works, experts are predicting that the future of the pharmaceutical industry lies in the development of printable drug products.
History of 3-D Printing and How 3-D Printers Work.Charles W. Hull is a name you might not be familiar with, but he is the man behind the world’s first patented 3-D printer.
Hull went on to found 3-D Systems, which remains the world’s second-largest manufacturer of 3-D printers, next to Stratasys.
3-D printers boast rapid prototyping technology, which means concepts are able to be quickly and efficiently turned into three-dimensional models, allowing for optimization of computer-generated designs.